What does Chief Bromden symbolize?

Chief Bromden, a tall American-Indian mute is the central character that symbolizes the change throughout the text and also throughout society. Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest uses this character that is subject to change as the narrator event though his perceptions cannot be fully trusted.

How is Chief Bromden characterized?

Chief Bromden is perhaps a paranoid schizophrenic, and as a result he is heavily medicated most of the time. Bromden believes the Combine, a mysterious syndicate, runs everything through the use of machine and human agents like Nurse Ratched and her evil minions, the orderlies.

What does McMurphy symbolize?

McMurphy represents sexuality, freedom, and self-determination—characteristics that clash with the oppressed ward, which is controlled by Nurse Ratched. Through Chief Bromden's narration, the novel establishes that McMurphy is not, in fact, crazy, but rather that he is trying to manipulate the system to his advantage.

What does Chief Bromden suffer from?

Chief Bromden presented a long-standing history characterized by the complex features of Schizophrenia.

How does Chief Bromden change throughout the novel?

As the novel progresses, Chief's delusions decrease. He no longer witnesses the fog that the Combine would regularly emit on the ward, and he even begins to communicate verbally with McMurphy and the other ward patients.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: Chief Bromden leaves

Is Chief mentally ill Why or why not?

First Person (Chief Bromden)

Chief Bromden is a Columbia Indian who suffers from schizophrenia. Although he plays a central role in the story, he is largely an observer. Chief is an interesting narrator because he is certainly not unbiased, and his mental illness can also shed doubt on his reliability.

What happens to Chief Bromden at the end?

By the end of the novel, the fog has cleared, and Bromden has recovered the personal strength to euthanize McMurphy, escape from the hospital, and record his account of the events.

Why does Chief pretend being deaf and dumb?

According to the source novel, he pretends to be deaf and dumb because it allows him to hear the secrets of the people around him.

Why was chief in the mental institution?

Chief Bromden: The novel's half-Native American narrator has been in the mental hospital since the end of World War II. Bromden is presumed by staff and patients alike to be deaf and mute, and through this guise he becomes privy to many of the ward's dirtiest secrets.

Why does Bromden suffocate McMurphy?

The others would be devastated to see Mac wandering around with dead eyes and a scarred forehead. So Chief decides to take matter into his own hands and to give Mac back his freedom, saying "I wouldn't leave you here this way" and smothering him.

What does Mcmurphys death symbolize?

McMurphy's death is another allusion. After McMurphy finishes his 'Last Supper', one disciple betrays him. This leads to his crucifixion, mental death through lobotomy and finally his physical demise; with his resurrection portrayed through Chief Bromden.

What does Nurse Ratched symbolize?

A former army nurse, Nurse Ratched represents the oppressive mechanization, dehumanization, and emasculation of modern society—in Bromden's words, the Combine. Her nickname is “Big Nurse,” which sounds like Big Brother, the name used in George Orwell's novel 1984 to refer to an oppressive and all-knowing authority.

What does the dog symbolize in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?

Throughout One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey repeatedly uses animals, specifically the dog, in Chief's hallucinations to symbolize Chief's mental transformation in the mechanized state of the ward under the inspiration from McMurphy.

What mental illness is portrayed in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?

Jack Nicholson's R.P. “Mac” McMurphy, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest's protagonist, has Anti-Social Personality Disorder, three times more likely in men than women.

What does Chief mean when he says it's the truth even if it didn't happen?

When Chief says, ''it's the truth even if it didn't happen,'' he is saying that his own personal truth is based on his memories and perceptions, rather than on what anyone else considers reality. Even if someone were to tell him that he is mistaken about his memories, the Chief would never change his behavior.

What does Bromden's perception of the combine reveal about life and society?

The Combine is what Chief Bromden calls society at large, a giant force that exists to oppress the people within it. The hospital ward is a mere factory for remedying mistakes made within The Combine (within neighborhoods and churches), to re-set peoples' behavior into the “correct” behavior.

What is the moral of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?

Ken Kesey's novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, portrays a group of male patients who rebel against the authorities in their asylum. The novel explores the importance of free expression and the need to challenge authority.

Does Bromden escape?

In Ken Kesey's novel, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, Chief Bromden is one of the inmates in an insane asylum who escapes the Institution. Many of the other inmates are afraid of the Institution and cannot escape.

How does McMurphy know that Bromden is not deaf?

McMurphy discovers Chief isn't deaf when he tells him an orderly is coming to tie him into bed and Chief responds immediately. The story of Santa Claus indicates that the Combine is able to change even the most innocuous and innocent individual from a happy, full-bodied and bearded individual into a conformist.

Why is Bromden in the ward?

Bromden is in the hospital because he is overcome by the fog after his father is destroyed by the Combine; it is the McMurphy illusion that gets Bromden out, providing cover while he becomes big again and releasing him from the fog to escape.

What are the first words the chief uses?

The chief's first words to McMurphy are 'thank you. ' The chief says this, revealing that he is not deaf or mute, when McMurphy gives him a piece of...

How does Bromden describe the ward?

How does Chief Bromden describe the ward? He looks around the ward as a new man might, he catalogues and classifies. Matter-of-fact description, gives the impression of objectivity. Emphasizes the regimentation and depersonalization of the inmates.

Did McMurphy get lobotomy?

McMurphy is given a lobotomy for his attack on Nurse Ratched. When he is returned to the ward after the operation, he is a vegetable. That same night, Bromden suffocates McMurphy with a pillow. He throws the control panel through a window screen and escapes from the hospital, hitching a ride with a trucker.

Is Chief Bromden deaf?

Bromden admits that he pretends to be deaf and dumb, revealing his cleverness to successfully get away with this trickery. His subterfuge reflects dual sides of sanity. While it might seem insane to pretend to be deaf and dumb, Bromden does benefit.

Why is Bromden the narrator instead of McMurphy?

By choosing Bromden as narrator instead of the central character of Randle Patrick McMurphy, Kesey gives us narration that is objective, that is to say from the outside of the central character, and also narration that is subjective and understandably unreliable.